Character & History, Taxonomy & Nomenclature, culture, propagation, Acer palmatum and its cultivars, Other Acer Species from Japan & their cultivars.

JD Vertrees is the foremost authority on the subject of Japanese Maples, and this is a beautifully illustrated and comprehensive survey of what was available at the time the book was published.

The Japanese were doing selective breeding in a time when western Europe was still mired in barbarism. The result of such a long history of gene manipulation is a stunning variety of leaf forms and colors, of plant habit and vigor.

This is a must-have for collectors (of trees, not books). ( )

Wonderful reference book, filled to the brim with color photos of many varieties of these beautiful trees. While the book does primarily focus on the leaf and on classification it does provide an index that categories the varieties by shape and size... ( )